Volume 28 · Issue 1

Summer 1994

NEWSLETTER

Blake/An Illustrated Quarterly

The issue of Blake/An Illustrated Quarterly in your hands embodies the latest
in the series of major changes in production that have marked the 26 years of Blake’s
existence. At least a few of our readers may recall some of the landmarks on the ragged curve of technical
evolution from the Berkeley, California, Blake Newsletter of 1968-70 through the
Albuquerque, New Mexico, Newsletter and Blake . . . Quarterly of 1970-1986
to the Rochester, New York, Blake of recent memory.

The latest change is exceptional, the most significant since the first Blake
Newsletter with illustrations—also the first to roll off a printing press—was published in 1970. Like
that innovation, this one has shaped the journal from top to bottom. Two years ago we began to plan the moment
when we’d be able to make the jump from a conventional method of production to a method that would exploit
the advantages of desktop publishing technology.

Desktop publishing has transformed the publishing industry. Despite its homey name, this
revolutionary technology brings big challenges to a small operation like ours, such as a complete change in
the meaning of “managing editor.” Patricia Neill, known to all our contributors and most of our readers as
Blake’s managing editor, has always supervised the production of each issue. But only
after spending the last couple of years plumbing the intricate depths of Aldus PageMaker, our professional
desktop publishing software, and then practicing her skills on a heap of university posters, brochures, and
newsletters, did she feel prepared to execute the layout of Blake.

Last summer Richard Rosenbaum, the production manager at Cornell University Press, designed for
us a format that is well adapted to our situation. We require layout that can efficiently accommodate
illustrated articles, notes, lists, and reviews in pages designed for readability and some elegance rather
than for complicated graphic effects. Our new design, even as it introduces several major changes to the
layout, preserves the features that make Blake recognizable, notably its organization, large
trim size, and multiple columns.

We have followed Dick Rosenbaum’s proposed modifications in virtually every respect. Look
closely and you’ll notice that we’ve changed the paper, reverted to two columns from three, and changed
all the type fonts, the size and placement of columns, the section openings, and the design of our cover and
inside front pages. Not least, we’ve changed printers.

Now an issue of Blake leaves Rochester as a collection of files on a computer
disk—these PageMaker files contain the layout for every page of the issue—and a small bundle of photos.
Our new printer, the highly regarded and technically up-to-date firm of Braun-Brumfield, Inc., in Ann Arbor,
Michigan, converts those files, along with halftones shot separately, into photographic negatives that are
then used directly to produce plates for the offset press.

Desktop publishing gives us significant new advantages. We have more control of the layout;
changes are easier to make; the time from initial layout to printed issues is shorter; and costs are less. In
a time of hardnosed budget cutting, we must do everything we can to minimize expenses, preferably without
compromising quality. Our change in production methods helps us accomplish that.

Our first electronically-produced issue was the last issue of the previous volume, spring
1994—Robert N. Essick’s annual list of Blake sales. Our second PageMaker product is the (present) summer
issue, with G. E. Bentley, Jr.’s annual list of publications. Judge the results for yourself; we’re very
pleased, though still feeling very experimental.

We’re exceedingly grateful to Dick Rosenbaum of Cornell University Press for his designer’s
eye, not to mention his charitable inclinations and his tolerance of rookies. We’ve also benefitted in many
more ways than we can say from the help and support of Robert N. Essick. Sincere thanks to Bob and Dick; we
hope we haven’t disappointed you—or you, faithful readers. (The Editors)

Print Edition

Publisher

Department of English, University of Rochester

Rochester, NY, USA

Editors

Morris Eaves

Morton D. Paley

Managing Editor

Patricia Neill

Bibliographer

G.E. Bentley, Jr.

Review Editor

Nelson Hilton

Associate Editor for Great Britain

David Worrall

Contributors

G.E. Bentley, Jr.

Chris Orr

Digital Edition

Editors:

Morris Eaves, University of Rochester

Robert Essick, University of California, Riverside

Joseph Viscomi, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Project Manager

Joe Fletcher

Technical Editor

Michael Fox

Previous Project Manager and Technical Editor

William Shaw

Project Director

Adam McCune

Project Coordinator, UNC:

Natasha Smith, Carolina Digital Library and Archives

Project Coordinator, University of Rochester:

Sarah Jones

Scanning:

UNC Digital Production Center

XML Encoding:

Apex CoVantage

Additional Transcription:

Adam McCune

Jennifer Park

Emendations:

Rachael Isom

Mary Learner

Adam McCune

Ashley Reed

Jennifer Park

Scott Robinson

XSLT Development:

Adam McCune

Joseph Ryan

William Shaw

PHP and Solr Development:

Michael Fox

Adam McCune

Project Assistants:

Lauren Cameron,

Rachael Isom,

Mary Learner,

Jennifer Park,

Ashley Reed,

Adair Rispoli,

Scott Robinson

Sponsors

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
and the University of Rochester